Matthew Risman (Earth-616)
, | Relatives = Piper Risman (wife); Gracie Risman (daughter) | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Mobile | Gender = Male | Height = | Weight = | Eyes = Brown | Hair = Brown | UnusualFeatures = Right-side of his face is scarred | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Married | Occupation = Purifier leader, terrorist former assassin | Education = | Origin = | PlaceOfBirth = | Creators = Craig Kyle; Christopher Yost; Mark Brooks | First = New X-Men Vol 2 #22 | Death = X-Force Vol 3 #6 | HistoryText = A trained sniper and contract-killer, Matthew Risman was in the middle of a hit against Bob Forward when he suddenly received a call telling him to return to his home. Achieving his target, Risman rushed home, dragging his wife Piper and daughter Gracie from their home seconds before a mountainside collapsed on it, completely obliterating it. As the trio looked at their damaged home, the man who had informed Risman of the coming disaster, William Stryker, appeared. Convincing Risman that he had access to future events, Stryker recruited Risman into the Purifiers, a group who believed it was their holy mission to eradicate the few mutants who remained following M-Day. Following events that Stryker foresaw while tapping into a damaged Nimrod's memory of the future, Stryker and the Purifiers began slaughtering mutants and ex-mutants, attempting to alter the future seen by Nimrod to one where the Purifiers triumphed during their assault on the Xavier Institute. Due to a switch between X-23 and Dust, the Purifiers believed they'd eliminated the correct mutants, allowing them to triumph. Surprised by the switch, the Purifiers were defeated, Stryker was killed, and Risman was left horribly scarred by an angry Dust. Calling Stryker a martyr, Risman took up leadership of the Purifiers in order to continue his war on mutant-kind. Messiah Complex Cyclops sent Rictor to infiltrate the Purifiers and spy on their plans to kill the first new mutant born since M-Day. Surge lead a team of New X-Men consisting of Anole, Armor, Hellion, Mercury, Rockslide, and X-23 in a pre-emptive strike against the Purifiers. Hellion specifically targeted Risman for his role in the murder of Laurie Collins. During the battle, many Purifiers were injured or killed, Hellion was almost killed by hired mercenary, Lady Deathstrike, and Rictor's cover was blown. The New X-Men were forced to retreat. Risman then sent Lady Deathstrike and her Reavers after Cable and the baby. X-Force After failing to kill the mutant messiah, Risman soon regrouped the Purifiers, and was able to resurrect Bastion to be a new adviser and prophet to the Purifiers. Risman soon realized; however, that Bastion was forcing him out of his leadership role by resurrecting many prominent killers of mutants (including William Stryker, Bolivar Trask, Graydon Creed) and infecting them with a techno-organic virus to form a new alliance capable of destroying all mutantkind. Risman then sent his new personal army, The Choir, to attack Bastion and those Purifiers loyal to the resurrected Stryker technarch. Risman claimed that Bastion and those he resurrected were not human and that the unholy abominations must be destroyed. Before he could stop Bastion, Archangel arrived searching for those who took his wings. During the commotion caused by Archangel and the arriving X-Force, Risman went after Magus but was surprised to find Eli Bard absorbing part of Magus. Risman tried to shoot Eli but his bullets sailed through him. Just as Eli was about to feed on him, Risman was shot in the head by X-23. | Powers = | Abilities = Expert sniper | Strength = | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = | Links = }} Category:Weapons Expert